Amusement device



Aug. 5, 1930.

F. L. MARKEY AIUSEIENT DEVICE Filed Nov. 8, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR" E?elL.Mar7iey, W/r/vssEs.-- v v ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1930. F.MARKEY 1,772,220

AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Nov. 8, 192a s Sheets-Sheet 2 EedL.M@rk%y,

ATTORNEY 5, 1930. F. L. QARKEY 1,712,220

AMUSEMENT DEVI CE Filed ubv 8, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet :s

INVENTOR Fred L.Mwrfie 7 v ATTORNEY BY iw m Patented Aug. 5, 1930 IUNITED STATES PATNT OFFICE- FRED L. MARKEY, OE LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR TO DODGEM CORPO- RATION, 0F LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS AMUSEMENT DEVICE Application filed November8, 1928. Serial No. 317,955.

This invention relates to an improvement in amusement apparatus of thegeneral type illustrated in the Stoehrer Patents Nos. 1,373,108, March29, 1921; 1,467,959, Sept. 11, 1923; 1,478,979, December 25, 1923; and1,652,840, December 13, 1927.

A primary object of the invention is to pro vide a novel and practicalcombined guiding and driving construction for a car used in amusementdevices of the type including an electrically charged floor and ceilingwhich furnishes power to the driving motor. In that connection theinvention contemplates a carrying forward of the idea shown in theStoehrer Patent No. 1,373,108 wherein the guiding and traction units arecombined to provide for the control of the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction which issimple, practical, reliable and easily manufactured and assembled, andwhich has the advantage of producing a better tractive efiect bylocating the traction elementat the front of the platform of the car.Heretofore, it has been the practice to locate the driving or tractionmeans approximately beneath the position of occupants seat so that allof the tractive effort of the driving unit is concentrated or focusedmore or less in a restricted zone which imposes unusual load on thedriving motor to overcome the inertia of starting.

With the present arrangement, namely, that of locating the combineddriving and steering unit at the front of the car, the load or weightwill be more equally distributed so that the car willpick up quicker instarting, thereby saving both motor and other equipment from unnecessarywear or strain and also permitting quicker manipulation of the car.

With the above and other objects in view.

which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is betterunderstood, the same consists in the novel construction, combinathepresent car in combination with the overhead electrically chargedceiling and a floor.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the improved car. i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the combined drivingand steering unit.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the type of clutch employed.

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sectional views showing forms of gearingbetween the steering1 column and the dirigible traction unit; anc vFigure 7 is a front elevation of the steering wheels.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings.

As previously indicated, the present invention is adapted for use inconnection with an amusement outfit which includes anelectrically'charged overhead wire mesh ceiling or the like A and ametallic floor B on which is supplied by current from the floor andceiling by the use of a suitable trolley '1 engaging with the ceilingand electrically connected with the motor. Referring to the car C, itwill be observed that the same includes a body consisting of a car flooror platform 1 having thereon a seat 2 for the operator and otheroccupants'according to the size or capacity of the car and adapted to besupported on suitable wheels or casters 3 and 1, the former beinglocated at the rear of the car and the latter being arranged at thefront thereof and forming a part of the novel combined driving andguiding unit of the present invention. The said combined driving andguiding unit ispreferably located at the front end of the platform andmay be concealed by a hood desig nated generally as H and from which thesteering column S projects to carry at the upper end thereof thesteering wheel W suitably located with reference to the seat'2.

Referring to the details of construction of the combined driving andguiding unit, it will be observed that the front wheel& which functionsas a support for the car as well as one of the steering elements, andalso as the tractive means for the car'preferably consists of a pair ofdisks or wheels i mounted on a shaft 5 carried by a bracket 6 mounted onone end of a sleeve 7, the said bracket and sleeve being rotatablyjournaled in the recessed portion 9 of a base member 10. The latter maybe bolted or otherwise secured to the platform 1 of the car by thefastenings 11 and for the purpose ofmaintaining the sleeve 7 inassembled'relation with reference to the base member the outside of thesleeve has fitted thereto a ring 12 which is secured in position by aset screw 13 or its equivalent.

The hollow sleeve 7 is provided at opposite ends of its inside bore withthe shaft bearingsla and 15 adapted to receive the motor driven shaft 16which transmitsmotion to one of the wheels 1 of the traction or drivingwheel 4. V'Vhile various forms of driving mechanism between the shaftand the wheel may be employed, nevertheless, by way of example the shaftis shown as having a beveled pinion 17 at its lower end adapted to meshwith a bevel gearing 18 on one of the wheels P.

The upper end of the shaft 16 which projects beyond the sleeve 7 isconnected with one element of a clutch device designated generall as Dand arranged between the motor and the shaft 16. Any suitable andconvenient form of clutch device may be used to connect the motorwiththe traction wheel 4:. v

In amusement devices of this type, it is the general practice to closethe circuit to the floor and ceiling whereupon the motors of all thecars standing on the floor will be set in operation, and to avoidmovement of the car until the operator or occupant desires, the clutchdevice D is of the normally open type. In other words, the shaft 16 isnormally disengaged from the motor and in order to impart motion to thecar it is necessary for the occupant or operator to positively connectthe motor with the traction unit which has the advantage of causing thecar to stop if the operator removes foot pressure, or hand pressure, onthe clutch according to the type of clutch employed, thereby renderingthe car entirely safe under all conditions of use.

' By way of example, a foot operated type of'clutch device is shown inthe drawings. This device includes a clutch proper consisting oftheclutch disks 19 and 20, the former being carried by the motor shaft21 and the latter being slidably keyed on the upper end of the shaft 16and faced with a'suitable friction lining 22. The slidable clutch disk20 is I provided on its underside with a thrust bearing 23 which issupported by a spring 24 mounted in a hollow spool or cup 25 which isprovided with an ofiset lug 26 adapted to be engaged by the free end 27of a lever 28 fulcrumed as at 29 and pivotally connected with a link 30which is moved by a foot pedal 31. The arrangement is such that when theoperator presses downwardly on the foot pedal 31, that is in thedirection of the arrow, the lever 28 will swing on its pivot 29 to movethe end 27 upwardly and thereby elevate the spool 25 to compress thespring 24 and force the movable disk 20 into engagement with therelatively fixed clutch disk 19 driven by the motor.

As long as the operator maintains a downward pressure on the foot pedal31, the clutch elements 19 and-20 will be maintained in engagement andthe car will be driven by the tractive effort of the front wheel unit 4being driven by the motor. When the foot pressure is released from thepedal, the clutch elements will become disengaged, due to the relaxationof the spring 24. V

The upper end of the sleeve 7 is provided on is outer face with asuitable gear 82 which may be of the spiral type indicated and which isadapted to mesh with a spiral gear 38 carried by the steering column S.This arrangement permits of locating thesteering wheel to one side ofthe longitudinal center line of the car, thereby positioning thesteering wheel XV in front of the occupant of the car who is to operatethe same and leaving the other portion of the seat free for anotheroccupant.

It will be apparent that various forms of gearing may be used betweenthe end of the steering column S and the sleeve 7 {and by way ofillustrating therange of modification of such gearing, Figures 5 and 6illustrate further embodiments. Fig. 5 for example shows the use of aninternal bevel gear 32 and a pinion 33 while Fig. 6. shows a crown gear32 and a bevel pinion 33 One of the distinctive features of theinvention is the reversibility of the dirigible driving unit. That is tosay, by making a half-turn of the driving wheel, the direction ofmovement of the car may be completely reversed. And that can be donewithout shifting the position of the motor. According to the presentconstruction the motor has a fixed mounting while the unit which itdrives, namely, the traction unit 4, consist ing of the two wheels ordisks 4?, is dirigible and under'the control of the operator at alltimes. It is possible to make very small circles with this type of carby turning the wheels of the driving unit at right angles. It ispossible to get away from the bumper on other cars by either making acomplete half-turn of the driving wheel, in which event the car willback away, or by turning the driving wheel to a slightly greater than aquarter turn in which case the front of the car will pull awayfrom itsobstruction. In connection with the supporting wheels or casters 3 itmay be pointed out that the same may be fixed or swiveled as desired inaccordance with the teachings of the patents hereinbefore referred to.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides a combined driving and guiding unit adapted to be directlycontrolled and manipulated by a steering column without the use ofchains or intermediate connections, thereby eliminating unnecessaryequipment and rendering the manipulation of the car, by inexperiencedoperators, easier, while at the same time the arrangement also permitsof a better distribution of theload with relation to the tractive efiortof the combined driving and steering unit which not only contributestowards easier steering but also assists in lightening the burdenimposed on the motor by frequent stopping and starting to manipu- I latethe car when in use.

WVithout further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim 1. In an amusement device of the class described, a floor, asleeve rotatably mounted on the floor, a wheel carried by said sleeve, ashaft journaled in said sleeve, a driving connection between said shaftand said wheel, a motor mounted with its drive shaft in'axialalinementwith said first mentioned shaft, a clutch disk fixed to the drive shaftof said motor, a cooperating clutch disk splined to said first mentionedshaft, a member rotatable and longitudinally slidable on said firstmentioned shaft, a spring between said member and said second mentionedclutch disk, and means for longitudinally moving said member along saidsecond mentioned shaft.

2. In an amusement device of the class described, a floor, a sleeverotatably mounted on the floor, a wheel carried by said sleeve, a shaftj ournaled in said sleeve, a driving connection between said shaft andsaid wheel, a motor mounted with its drive shaft in axial alinement withsaid first mentioned shaft, a clutch disk fixed to the drive shaft ofsaid motor, a cooperating clutch disk splined to said first mentionedshaft, a cup-shaped member rotatable and longitudinally slidable on saidfirst mentioned shaft, an expansion coil spring housed within said cupmember and reacting therefrom to force said splined clutch disk towardsthe other clutch disk, and means for longitudinally moving saidcupshaped member along said second mentioned shaft.

3. In an amusement device of the class described, a floor, a sleeverotatably mounted on ed shaft, a spring between said member and saidsecond mentioned clutch disk, an intermediately pivoted leveroperatively connected at one end with said member, a pivoted foot lever,and a link connecting said foot lever with the second end of saidintermediately pivoted lever.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

FRED L. MARKEY.

